Shortly after Yale Law professor Harold Koh was named the State Department’s top lawyer, a source sent me a snickering note noting that Koh had deemed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq illegal, and that therefore by Koh’s definition his new boss, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had potentially supported a massive war crime. Koh had also …
obama
In the ArenaViewpoint
Obama Bound
Mike Gerson has a pretty smart column in the Washington Post today about the President’s political dilemma, given the current economic doldrums. Gerson starts with the coincidence of Obama’s visit to a Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio, …
Could the 2012 Election Be 2004 All Over Again?
There’s been a lot of buzz inside the Beltway about how this year’s crop of GOP wannabes is strikingly similar to the Democratic cast of George W. Bush challengers in 2004.
You have a frontrunner who is playing it safe and …
In Second Trial, Blago Can’t Beat the Rap
TIME’s Dawn Reiss checks in from Chicago:
On Monday, June 27, the jury returned from 10 days of deliberation and everyone gathered to hear its decision. Blagojevich blew an air kiss to his weeping wife and then clasped his hands as courtroom deputy Donald Walker began reading the verdict. The first finding of guilt led Blagojevich to
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Putting Presidents: Politics and Golf Through the Years
With President Obama and House Speak Boehner meeting up for a round of golf on Saturday, TIME looks back at the game’s ubiquitous presence in politics for the last century
Yes, Let’s Kill Ethanol Jobs
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO— As corn ethanol’s Public Enemy Number One — did my plaque get lost in the mail? — I’m thrilled the Senate voted to kill the industry’s fiscally and ecologically ludicrous tax credit. But it was galling — if not too surprising — to hear Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, complain that the …
White House: Libya Campaign Isn’t War – UPDATED
The United States is not engaged in a war with Libya and the War Powers Resolution does not apply to U.S. military action there, according to two White House officials who briefed reporters on Wednesday. “We’re now in a …
Republicans Don’t Care If Default Boosts Deficits, Because They Don’t Care About Deficits
The Republican Party, after converting huge surpluses into huge deficits during the Bush era, after opposing deficit-reducing health reforms, student loan reforms and big-bank taxes during the Obama era, after continuing to clamor for trillions of dollars in deficit-expanding tax cuts while gutting House pay-as-you-go rules to make it …
The Race for Hispanic Voters Heats Up
President Obama didn’t hold back any praise on Tuesday during his day-trip to the Caribbean. “Puerto Rican artists contribute to our culture,” he declared at the airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “Puerto Rican entreprenuers create American jobs.”
He spoke these words before an audience that has no say in the electoral college that …
What Would Anthony Weiner Tweet About This Worthy Effort to Reduce Waste?
It’s a trivial matter, with no connection whatsoever to the obscene congressional tweets that demand our attention in these troubled times, but President Obama’s widely ridiculed stimulus bill has brought unprecedented transparency and accountability to federal spending, which is why it’s been virtually fraud-free. So now the …
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In the ArenaViewpoint
A Feast for Fat Cats, A Project for Liberals
These are depressing times for liberals. The President is groveling in the White House, trying hard to please the Wall Street financiers who bankrolled him in the past, but are angry now because he called them “fat cats” and …
For More Stimulus, Obama Has a Tough Sell and a Narrow Window
As I report in this week’s magazine, several current and former advisers to President Obama would like Congress to pass more short-term stimulus, but no one inside is quite saying that publicly just yet. “I don’t have any new …